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A hand stencil in Liang Metanduno cave on Indonesia's Muna Island is at least 67,800 years old, the oldest cave art dated so far. Someone pressed a hand to the rock and blew pigment around it, leaving the hand's outline.

Nature study, 2026

ArtHistoryArchaeology

The story behind the card

An Indonesian and Australian team reported the find in the journal Nature in January 2026. They dated a thin mineral crust that had grown over the pigment, using a method based on the slow decay of uranium; the crust gives only a minimum age, so the stencil may be older. Its fingertips were deliberately narrowed, a style otherwise known only from nearby Sulawesi, and the team credits modern humans, Homo sapiens. That would mean our species had reached these islands by then, on the likely route to Australia. The previous candidates for oldest cave art were Spanish paintings over 64,000 years old, often credited to Neanderthals. Some scientists warn that uranium dating can overestimate ages.

Türkçe oku
Endonezya'nın Muna Adası'ndaki Liang Metanduno mağarasında bulunan bir el izi en az 67.800 yıllık; bugüne kadar tarihlenen en eski mağara sanatı bu. Biri elini kayaya dayamış, çevresine boya püskürtmüş; kayada elin boyasız silueti kalmış.
Nature'da yayımlanan çalışma, 2026

Endonezyalı ve Avustralyalı araştırmacılardan oluşan ekip, buluşu Ocak 2026'da Nature dergisinde yayımladı. Boyanın üzerinde zamanla oluşmuş ince mineral kabuğu, uranyumun yavaş bozunmasına dayanan bir yöntemle tarihlendirdiler. Kabuk yalnızca en düşük yaşı verir, yani el izi daha da eski olabilir. Parmak uçları bilerek inceltilmiş; bu üslup başka yalnızca yakındaki Sulawesi Adası'nda görülür. Ekip bu yüzden izi modern insana, yani Homo sapiens'e bağlıyor. Bu doğruysa türümüz o tarihte, Avustralya'ya giden olası yolun üzerindeki bu adalara ulaşmıştı. En eski mağara sanatı sayılan önceki örnekler, İspanya'daki 64.000 yılı aşkın ve çoğu zaman Neandertallere bağlanan resimlerdi. Bazı bilim insanları uranyum tarihlemesinin yaşları olduğundan fazla gösterebileceği uyarısında bulunuyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Liang Metanduno
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